12. Oatman, Arizona - Denise Lett

We crossed the Colorado River into Arizona via a bridge at Topock, Arizona. The Old Trails Arch Bridge spans the river slightly to the north. The 1940 movie version of Steinbeck’s Depression-era novel The Grapes of Wrath features this bridge as the place the Joad family crosses the river from Arizona into the land of opportunity, California. Cars used this bridge from 1916, shortly after it was first built, until 1947. Today it carries a natural gas pipeline. Here we began the longest, uninterrupted, drivable extant stretch of historic Route 66—159 miles from Topock to Ash Fork, Arizona.

Our first destination on the longest, uninterrupted, driveable extant stretch of historic Route 66 leaving Topock is Oatman.…26 miles through the Mojave Desert and up a narrow, winding path through the Black Mountains. Too early in the spring, the wildflowers did not carpet the desert floor (here in Arizona or in California), but I was still satisfied some wildflowers were in bloom.The road up the mountains to Oatman was well paved and not as scary as I had been led to believe (thankfully)

Approaching Oatman, we parked, hugging the side of the bottleneck of a road on the western outskirts of Oatman,

and strolled up its main (only?) street:

Gold was discovered in the area in 1863, but it wasn’t until 1915 after a major discovery that the Oatman mining camp formed, which quickly turned into a boomtown. The rush lasted for only a couple years, but gold continued to be mined profitably until 1941, at which time the government forced the mines to shut down to divert resources to mining other metals needed for the war effort. The town continued to benefit from the Route 66 travel until Route 66 was realigned in 1953, bypassing Oatman:

I can’t find the citation, but someone described the Oatman of today as an unabashed, Western tourist trap. But it was fun.

We took in the sites the town had to offer and enjoyed lemonade and live country music in the cafe of the 1902-era Oatman Hotel (the hotel no longer functions as one).

I did have one major disappointment though. Oatman is known for its feral burros, their ancestors having been abandoned by the departing miners in 1941. I had read that these beasts could be found roaming around the street, nudging tourists to feed them. I failed to spot a single burro while meandering. Only after we trekked back to our car and were in the process of driving through the town on the way out did I catch a glimpse of a burro off to my left. Nowhere could I find a spot to pull over…. I left, bereft of a photo of this iconic symbol of Oatman….

(to be continued) SUBSCRIBE to my post at the very bottom of the page!